Apparently Bartonville State
Hospital was
a nice place to visit and quite a few souls decided to stay. I
say
this because of the progressive medicine that Dr. Zeller was known for,
and quite simply human kindness, which was something that you normally
did not find in an insane asylum in the beginning of the 1900’s.

Construction began in 1885, and
resulted
in a large, foreboding castle –like building. Unfortunately, or
fortunately,
this original building was later torn down in 1897, having never been
used
because of structural flaws. It appears that this original
building
had been built on top of an abandoned coal mine and suffered much when
the shafts began decaying and collapsing.

The hospital was then re-built and
opened
to the public in 1902. Gone was the foreboding castle and in its
place was a more modern structure. In addition to the main building
there
were at least 33 cottages used for the housing of patients. Also
there were no bar on the windows or restraints. This type of
treatment
for mental patients was practically unheard of that time.

In addition to the progressive
treatment
of patients, Dr. Zeller also instituted on site cemeteries for patients
were unclaimed at the time of their death. In the end there were
four cemeteries located behind the main building. It was in the
oldest
cemetery that the first documented haunting occurred. As a matter
of fact, Dr. Zeller himself documented it.

Dr Zeller created a burial corps,
composed
of staff members and a few patients. It was one these patients
that
our tale is about. His name was simply Bookbinder, and whenever
the
corps buried someone he would mourn for that person, even if he didn’t
know them. He would go to an old Elm tree, that had been in the
midst
of the graveyard for many years, and mourns the passing of the fellow
patient,
sobbing loudly.

Time passed and the Bookbinder
eventually
did too. Because he was so well liked by the staff and his fellow
patients a large funeral was held. With close to four hundred
witnesses
in attendance, as they lowered the coffin into the open grave, a low
moaning
was heard. Many turned in the direction of the old Elm tree;
there
stood Bookbinder, mourning as he had also done. Astonished,
Dr.Zeller,
immediately had the coffin opened in front of those who had not run in
fear. Inside, of course was the corpse of Bookbinder. Those
who were still watching the tree observed as the apparition
disappeared.
Shortly thereafter, the old Elm tree began to try. Eventually it
was decided to remove the tree, but as the axe was swung a low moan was
heard. It was then decided to burn the remains of the tree, but
once
again the Bookbinder had his say. For as soon as the flames were set,
the
crying began. The flames were quickly extinguished. The old
dead elm still stands in this graveyard.

In 1972 the asylum closed its
doors for
good a remained empty until 1980. At that time the prosperity was
sold and the buildings were demolished. While the institution was
empty it became a lure for vandals and ghost hunters alike.

In addition to Dr. Zeller’s
documentation
of the haunting, one can also look into the information provided by Rob
Conover. Rob is a former Marine as well as a private
investigator.
He was actually able to videotape an apparition living within the walls
of the old sanitarium.

One thing to consider in this case of haunting is that we
are dealing
with mental patients, People who were unstable to begin with. One
has to ask the question, how much did these people understand about
themselves
and the world around them. One has to figure that in death they
are
just as confused as when they were living. There is no realism to
begin with, so it stands to reason that in death they are still looking
for the safe haven that they found in Dr. Zellers care.

I look forward to investigating more mental institutions in
the future
to see if there is a correlation between instability of the person’s
mental
health and the haunting exhibited.